8 times 9 is 72 — with the shortcut, the division facts and a drill to make it stick
8 × 9 = 72. It is one of the easiest nines to get from your fingers, and one of the most commonly swapped with 7 × 9 when rushed.
8 × 9 = 72. Said out loud in the way most classrooms say it: Eight nines are seventy-two.
9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 72 — that is eight nines added together.
Every fact in the nine times table up to 9 × 10 can be read off your hands. Hold up ten fingers and fold down the eighth one: seven fingers stand to its left and two to its right, which spells 72. The same trick gives 7 × 9 = 63 (fold the seventh) and 6 × 9 = 54 (fold the sixth).
The digits of 72 add to 9, as every answer in the nine times table up to 90 does. That is a quick way to catch the classic slips — 8 × 9 answered as 63 (that is 7 × 9) or 81 (9 × 9). Neither 6 + 3 nor 8 + 1 fails the digit test, so check the tens digit too: it is always one less than the number you multiplied nine by, and 8 − 1 = 7.
72 is also the number in the rule of 72: divide 72 by a yearly growth rate in percent and you get roughly how many years it takes something to double. At 8% a year, 72 ÷ 8 = 9 years. It works because 72 divides so neatly — by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 12.
Method 1, split 9 into 5 + 4: 8 × 5 = 40 (half of 8 × 10 = 80) and 8 × 4 = 32. Add them: 40 + 32 = 72.
Method 2, start from the square 8 × 8: 8 × 8 = 64, and 8 × 9 is one more 8: 64 + 8 = 72.
Use the nines rule. The tens digit is one less than the number you are multiplying — one less than 8 is 7 — and the two digits always add up to nine, so the answer is 72. Check it: 7 + 2 = 9.
Because one of the factors is even, the answer has to be even. 72 is, so the parity check passes.
8 × 9 = 72, 9 × 8 = 72, 72 ÷ 8 = 9 and 72 ÷ 9 = 8 are one fact read in different directions. The facts either side — 8 × 8 = 64, 8 × 10 = 80, 7 × 9 = 63, 9 × 9 = 81 — are the answers people most often give by mistake when rushing, and each is just one eight or one nine away from 72.
72 appears twice in the grid: as 8 × 9 in the eight times table and as 9 × 8 in the nine times table. The highlighted row shows both.
| × | 8 times table | 9 times table |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 × 1 = 8 | 9 × 1 = 9 |
| 2 | 8 × 2 = 16 | 9 × 2 = 18 |
| 3 | 8 × 3 = 24 | 9 × 3 = 27 |
| 4 | 8 × 4 = 32 | 9 × 4 = 36 |
| 5 | 8 × 5 = 40 | 9 × 5 = 45 |
| 6 | 8 × 6 = 48 | 9 × 6 = 54 |
| 7 | 8 × 7 = 56 | 9 × 7 = 63 |
| 8 | 8 × 8 = 64 | 9 × 8 = 72 |
| 9 | 8 × 9 = 72 | 9 × 9 = 81 |
| 10 | 8 × 10 = 80 | 9 × 10 = 90 |
| 11 | 8 × 11 = 88 | 9 × 11 = 99 |
| 12 | 8 × 12 = 96 | 9 × 12 = 108 |
These are the facts one step away from 8 × 9 in the grid, and the answers people give by mistake when rushing. The last column shows how far each lands from 72; tap a fact to open it or its times table.
| Fact | Answer | Compared with 72 |
|---|---|---|
| 8 × 8 | 64 | 8 less |
| 8 × 10 | 80 | 8 more |
| 7 × 9 | 63 | 9 less |
| 9 × 9 | 81 | 9 more |
| 7 × 10 | 70 | 2 less |
| 9 × 8 | 72 | same answer |
Use the drill on this page for a 60-second quiz on 8 × 9 and its neighbours, read the 8 and 9 times tables in full, or play the arcade game until the answer comes without counting.
8 times 9 is 72. In words, eight nines are seventy-two.
72 ÷ 8 = 9, because 8 × 9 = 72. The matching fact is 72 ÷ 9 = 8.
Method 1, split 9 into 5 + 4: 8 × 5 = 40 (half of 8 × 10 = 80) and 8 × 4 = 32. Add them: 40 + 32 = 72. Method 2, start from the square 8 × 8: 8 × 8 = 64, and 8 × 9 is one more 8: 64 + 8 = 72.
Yes. Multiplication can be done in either order, so 8 × 9 and 9 × 8 both equal 72.
72 ÷ 8 = 9 and 72 ÷ 9 = 8. A multiplication fact and its two division facts are the same three numbers read in different directions.
Every times table from 1 to 20 is written out on the times tables page, with a drill for any row, and the full grid is on the multiplication chart.